Jaisha to leave marathon, wants to run 1500m, 5000m in Rio Olympics

Top Indian middle and long distance runner O P Jaisha is set to leave marathon after Sundays Standard Chartered Mumbai Race as she feels that she has a better chance of winning a medal in 1500m and 5000m events in the Olympics later this yearJaisha has already qualified for the Rio Olympics in marathon but she said she does not have much chance to win a medal in that event and wants to shift focus on 1500m and 5000m She said her coach Nikolai Snesarev has told her that Mumbai Marathon which she won last year among the Indian contestants will be her lastJaisha though is yet to qualify for Rio Olympics in 1500m and 5000m Yes my coach felt I had a good chance in marathon in the Rio Games But I feel I have a better chance of a medal in 1500m and 5000m and am going to concentrate on qualifying for them after this marathon Our coach Belarussian Nikolai Snesarev has promised me it is the last marathon I will run in my life Jaisha said at a media conference todayJaisha on her debut in the gruelling 42km run last year outlasted all other Indian rivals to come home in 23729 then a new national mark and later attained the qualifying mark for the August Rio Games set by the world athletics body IAAFJaisha who has won bronze medals in past two Asian Games in 5000 and 1500m bettered her own mark while running the marathon in last years World Championships at Beijing where she clocked 23443 to end up 18th but said her mind was not set in running either the marathon or even the 10000m at RioAfter the Incheon Asian Games I had trained along with Sudha Singh who finished 19th in Beijing and also qualified for Rio and Lalita Babar mainly for the marathon for one year and ten months at the highaltitude Ooty This has helped me improve my endurance as well as speed said Jaisha who will be 33 in MayJaisha said she can give a shot at a medal in 1500m or 5000m in Rio as per the timings she has clocked in the past rather than in the marathon and was confident of qualifying for these events in the runup to Rio Games I am confident I will qualify in these events I havedone 403 in 1500 qualifying mark 408 Though I did 1530 in the last National Games it was because I could not do speed work in the short period available I am confident I can make the 1524 qualifying mark I in fact am targeting something between 1440 and 1450 said JaishaJaisha said with help from her home state Kerala and the Athletics Federation of India she would be able to achieve her aim of attaining the qualifying mark in the two track events 1500m and 5000m and boarding the flight to RioLalita Babar also said that though she was running the marathon here her focus will always be on the 3000m steeplechase which she will run in Rio after having qualified for that event at the Beijing World ChampionshipsThe Railways athlete from Satara district in Maharashtra has qualified for the Rio Games in the 3000m steeplechase event by setting a new national record of 92786 at the World Championships in Beijing last yearI am taking part in the marathon to improve my endurance but my focus for Rio is on the 3000m steeplechase said Lalita who won bronze medal in 2014 Asian Games Lalita has been the top finisher among Indian women in the Mumbai marathon three times in the past Also in fray will be Sudha Singh another seasoned steeplechaser who has qualified for Rio in the marathon but it was learnt she too has not taken a final call on this issue though she was not present at the media conferenceArmy runner Nitendra Singh Rawat who qualified for the Rio Games by clocking 21806 to finish eighth in the World Military Games marathon in Korea in October last would be aiming to come out trumps among Indian men runners in the full marathonI want to better the course record 21659 set by Ram Singh Yadav in 2012 said Rawat who is among 11 runners from the armed forces who will be running the full distance Kheta Ram who finished tops in the VasaiVirar marathon in October last said he also wanted to qualify for the Rio Games through this event which is his last chance to make the gradeQualifying mark is 219 and I want to do better and dip under Ram Singhs record said the athlete who clocked 22200 when wining the VasaiVirar eventJuly 11 is the cutoff date for attaining the qualifying mark said Rawat who trains with the other army runners at Ooty under coach Surinder Singh Bhandari